Farmers of the forested villages of Palamaner, Kuppam, and Punganur ranges in the Chittoor district are concerned about the frequent presence of wild elephants close to their fields and human habitations over the past two weeks.
Referring to it as a common phenomenon, forest officials said that several herds from the neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka keep raiding the crops in Chittoor district between October and February, during which harvesting of crops would be at its peak. Rejuvenation of the mango gardens with fresh shoots of leaves and flowering would also attract the pachyderms.
At present, crop losses are reported from the Naniyala reserve forest of Ramakuppam mandal after a three-member herd from the reserve forests of Tamil Nadu intruded into the fields. Farmers said that the tuskers had damaged their paddy fields and fields located at Narayanapuram, Arimanupenta, and 89-Pedduru villages under the Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary zone were also partially damaged. To prevent the wild herds from entering into Chittoor district, forest watches were deployed at the borders of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
District Forest Officer C. Chaitanya Kumar Reddy said that following reports that the elephants were raiding crops, the field staff were prompted to undertake a series of inspections at the areas vulnerable to crop losses. “Our priority is to drive the wild elephants back into their habitations and prevent them from entering agricultural fields and human habitations. We have expedited the process of releasing compensation for crop losses to the farmers immediately,” he said.
The IFS officer said to prevent the frequent electrocution of wild elephants in the agriculture fields, inspections were intensified to identify the low-lying power cables across the fields and ground-level transformers under the wild sanctuary zone. “We are doing our best to prevent man-animal conflict in the district,” he added.
